The argument against casinos gaffing their machines has usually been centered around a few areas: 1. They easily make enough money without resorting to anything illegal,
2. The consequences of getting caught would be so great (loss of gaming license, fines, negative publicity, loss of managerial jobs, etc.) as to make any such attempt foolish,
3. The state gaming agencies would likely discover any such gaffing.
I have personally never thought that anywhere I've played has cheated me. If I did think so, I wouldn't return to play.
Ohio and West Virginia (which is my neck of the woods) have many little "Skill Game Parlors" which seem to be mom & pop operations that appear in rented store fronts and probably have a couple dozen or so slots and video poker machines. These operations appear and last for a while, then they disappear. I've never been in one of those places because as far as I know, there is no regulatory agency monitoring their games or procedures. These places might be full of "Mickey Crimm" opportunities, but I don't trust them, so I've not visited.
In any event, as far a legitimate casinos gaffing machines: I don't think the CEO of any giant gaming corporation would ever send out a memo ordering her GMs to "Make sure our machines have the 'XYZ PROM' activated so we get an extra 2% hold on our $1 and up video poker machines." Repeat--I don't think that would happen.
What I do think is much more likely is that the GM of a property in BFE, Oklahoma dreams of becoming the GM of a more glamorous property in Las Vegas. In an effort to impress his corporate bosses with what a good job he is doing, this rogue GM makes a secret deal with his Slot Director to gaffe enough machines (not all) in hopes of showing a measurable increase in his property's net profits. The GM and Slot Director hope that the state gaming commission never selects the gaffed machines for review (or the Slot Director has a mole in the gaming commission who will tell him which machines have been selected) and the GM promises to bring the Slot Director along as he ascends the corporate ladder.
Anyway, that's my general premise. It is possible that there are otherwise legitimate casinos with gaffed machines, but they are not gaffed by corporate policy. They are gaffed by a small group (maybe three people max) who are willing to take that risk in exchange for the chance of a big reward.
Never underestimate the limits of desperation.
I find it amusing when people tell me they are certain the casino we are in has secretly "tightened" all of the machines to illegally reduce payouts, but they will be back the following weekend.
Max
---In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, <mickeycrimm@...> wrote :
The silver lining behind the American Coin scandal is the control board, which took heavy criticism because of the scandal, realized their own shortcomings. They instituted stiffer policies, procedures and regulations on the machines. They even went so far as to order the retesting of every machine in the state, about 150,000 at the time, to insure their integrity.
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Posted by: maximumbett@yahoo.com
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